Our reflux still

[Uncle Remus]

Here are some photos of our reflux still. We started out with the plan from the home distiller site and made a few changes.


We made the condenser coil removeable for cleaning purposes. You simply just drop it in the top and hook up the water.


Next we added a sight glass near the needle valves for reflux and output. We find this feature very handy for monitoring the amount of alcohol being refluxed. It gives you a window to see whats happening how fast it's coming off etc. The way we've been running it is we set the output at a steady rate, collecting about 100ml in 4 minutes. then we adust the reflux to keep a constant level in the sight glass (ie: not gaining or losing)
Most runs the output needle valve is opened about 1/8 of a turn and the reflux is opened about 3/4 of a turn. During the middle of the run we've been getting a consistant 88% product.


We recently added a secondary cooler. After the cooling water runs through the condenser coil it runs through another cooling tube on the output. Coming off of the output valve is a 1/4" copper tube which the alcohol runs through, this tube runs through a 1" copper pipe which water is circulated through. The purpose of this cooler is to get the temperature of the product down to about 20 deg C so the product can be acurately monitored for alcohol %.


Then after the secondary or output cooler we have a copper testing chamber in which the alcohol meter floats thoughout the entire run. The product comes into the bottom and flows out the top into a collection jug.


We used the stainless mixing bowl idea in the plan to connect the column to the beer keg and used a coupler off of an old fire extinguisher to join the column to the bowl. This coupler has an o-ring fitting and is easily attatched or detached.







And finally the heat source. Good ole propane, Hank Hill would bevery proud. We can't be bothered futsin' around with electric heater elements. Propane is so easy to control and responds right now

That's about it. We've run about 10 washes through it now, with good results. Comments? Questions?

[Fourway]

excellent work.

[Grayson_Stewart]

I like it....looks like you put alot of work into it.

Two suggestions though.

Remove the thermometer from the top of the column and plug that hole. Take a short piece of 1/4" copper tubing and solder it in the side of the column where your " T " begins the horizontal run. If you flare the end of the tubing projecting from the column, a few wraps of teflon allows a snug vapor tight fit. You won't need a ladder to read temps and you won't accidentally lean into a 174+ degree pipe.

Replace the plastic tubing running to your collection jar with a piece of copper tubing so you don't get some cloudy collection one day.

Other wise looks great!

[The Chemist]

I'm as envious of your workshop as I am of your great-looking still!! Does it go on forever?

[Guest]

One word.....NICE.
Two words.....Great work!!

But......why only 88% in the middle of your run?
how fast are you runnin, what % is wash, do you use packing(copper?), Is your coil a double helix?

I am definately envious of your working environment. I have a 18'x24'shed that is only worth walking into during the spring, fall, or winter. (although I might add an air conditioner later this summer).

[Uncle Remus]

I'm as envious of your workshop as I am of your great-looking still!! Does it go on forever?

Thanks Chemist and Grayson for your kind compliments
We've kinda just kept making small improvements as we've gone along. My partner is a very skilled tradesman (for a carpenter ) He actually made the condenser chamber on his lathe out of a piece of 3" copper. He made a wooden jig or plug the shape we wanted the condenser and then kneeled out the copper down to 2".

The best part of this still, is it cost us almost nothing to build, just time. The copper is all old stuff that we scrounged and sweated apart and cleaned up. We got the beer keg for free, apparently it had been frozen once and the brewery will not use them again if this happens. Even the stove you see underneath it, I built from an old 16" tire rim (the keg sits perfectly on the bead of the rim) inside the rim is a cast burner out of an old furnace, which now runs on propane. It's been as much fun buiding this thing as drinking the product (well almost ).

Grayson, good idea on the thermometer, come to think about it I am getting kinda sick of climbing up on a chair to check the temp. We have not yet had a cloudy product because of the plastic tube, however the plastic tubing has turned cloudy itself. Maybe giving off unwanted shit into the alcohol. Yes we should replace it.

Thanks again for you comments and compliments. This is really turning out to be a fun hobby!

Cheers all!!!

[Uncle Remus]

One word.....NICE.
Two words.....Great work!!

But......why only 88% in the middle of your run?
how fast are you runnin, what % is wash, do you use packing(copper?), Is your coil a double helix?

The wash has usually been beween 15-18%. We have been running it off at about 100ml in 3-4 minutes, or 1litre in 30-40 minutes. Yes the column is full of structured copper packing from the reflux tube to the bottom.

I'm not sure what you mean by a double helix. The coil I made is 1/4" copper tubing first wrapped about 10 times around a 1" pipe and then wrapped about another 10 turns around a 2" pipe. So it is a 1" coil inside of a 2" coil.

The highest alc%/vol. I've measured so far has been maybe 91% and only for a short time. What kinda % should we be pulling during mid run?

[Guest]

I think you might be getting greedy.
SLOW it down a bit.......let it reflux for about an hour....then collect SLOWLY!!!.
you should be getting about 90-94% at least.

with a keg run it 12 hrs.

[LeftLaneCruiser]

First: WHAT A NICE PIECE OF COPPER !!!

The cooling coil is definately a double helix ..

As others I think you are running too fast. Most of us run 500 ml/hr at max. Collecting high purity alcohol (90+) takes a lot of patience.

From the looks and your description of your still you must be able to get 94 easily.

And if it does, i would remove the plastic tubes at the output line like Grayson suggested..

KJH

[Virginia Gentleman]

Nicely done, Uncle Remus. That's a very sweet looking bit of handiwork. Congratulations on your (obviously) hard work! Sound like it's paying off.

[Guest]

Yes I can also appreciate your work shop. Have you discovered yet how effective radial arms saws are for cutting copper with an suitable back stop amd tungsten blade.
Can i make a few comments. If you want to stay with LM get rid of the reflux valve. Put a T above your pduct vave and connect it back to the column with a slight uphill. This will get rid of that huge dam of condensate which desenitizes your cuts and contaminates your product with heads. Stability seems to be a problem with all those strings to the roof, a built in problem with big off set heads.
Can I make a suggestion, move your condenser to the top of your column. install a gate valve on the side arm which feeds a liebig of 1" tube ( with a twisted baffle in it) with a 1 1/4 jacket 1 foot long, extend the 1" tube down and incorporate your parrots beak in it. Result will be a much more balanced rig, better contol, no dam of condensate and a parrots beak that is going to be right on the ball to help you pick your cuts in cool product.
Hope I can get me foot outa me mouf afta this. cheers

[Guest]

Yes I can also appreciate your work shop. Have you discovered yet how effective radial arms saws are for cutting copper with an suitable back stop amd tungsten blade.
Can i make a few comments. If you want to stay with LM get rid of the reflux valve. Put a T above your pduct vave and connect it back to the column with a slight uphill. This will get rid of that huge dam of condensate which desenitizes your cuts and contaminates your product with heads. Stability seems to be a problem with all those strings to the roof, a built in problem with big off set heads.
Can I make a suggestion, move your condenser to the top of your column. install a gate valve on the side arm which feeds a liebig of 1" tube ( with a twisted baffle in it) with a 1 1/4 jacket 1 foot long, extend the 1" tube down and incorporate your parrots beak in it. Result will be a much more balanced rig, better contol, no dam of condensate and a parrots beak that is going to be right on the ball to help you pick your cuts in cool product.
Hope I can get me foot outa me mouf afta this. cheers

Actually stability is not a problem when the column is mounted on the keg.
We have the string there so we can remove the keg and just let the column hang, especially when it is hot. The other string is needed to support the output tube.
Thanks for all the feedback guys